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Topic: Sling Life (Read 4076 times)

Just wondering as I have pulled a ton a gear out of the basement how good are slings on cams and quick draws that have been around since 89 to 95. I do not leave them out they have always been in crates or bags. Some are worn, but some look pretty good. I also have a 60 m static line brand new never used but it is 8 years old. White 10 mil polyester static line. Is this stuff still good or should I replace it all and have new slings sewn on my cams? Thanks for the help. Is there a shelf life on webbing and slings?

I think I am ok but I thought I would ask if anyone knows if it's bad or dangerous to climb on old slings and crap that are just old not weathered. I have a kid to take care of now and I just seem to be very cautious about old gear now for some reason.

My rack is really from 87 to 96 maybe. I don't know really but the last cam I bought was 00 alien the black one when it first came out. I guess they now have new single stem cams unlike the old wired BD cams with a wire trigger. I do have a few of the first generation BD single stem units, but not much after 2000.

For the cost of lighter, smaller--better--new slings you could put it out of your mind. I'd be more inclined to pony up for that than I would be truly afraid of something failing. I wouldn't even mind knotted supertape on my cams to forget about it. There's just too much to think about without having to hunt for the jesus piece with the least frayed sling. That said, I trust my WC Friends I had reslung by WC over 15 years ago. They aren't worn much since they were second string gear by the time they were reslung, and the webbing is fat tubular.

I would and have used ropes (including lead) for ten years if not fallen on a bunch and kernmantel in good shape. Someone recently asked me about his 8-year-old stored lead line that's almost new. Told him I would lead on it with no issues. So, sure I'd use that static line...if it were a static line kinda guy.

I seem to recall something over the five year mark shows some degradation in webbing strength. Don't quote me there. The numbers could be nominal or not relevant to climbing forces.

« Last Edit: March 02, 2010, 07:12:58 pm by Mike. »

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Say no to limbers, excavators and retro-bolters. No matter how much he smiles.

We will no longer be able to resling cams older than 10 years. Yates Gear reserves the right to decline reslinging of any cams we feel are unsafe because of there condition of use. (ie. Please do not send us cams that are used up and thrashed!) It will be up to the customer to determine the age and condition of their cams before sending them in to us.

In Portland Oregon, Climb Max Mountaineering (http://www.climbmaxmountaineering.com/) has a re-sling service. Don't know how convenient it is for people out of state. They put new belay loops on my wall harness, and reslung two tri-cams for me. Reasonable prices, and the work was good quality. On my harness, it was about $15 for the two replacement loops. The tri-cams were $7-8 per sling. Seemed like variety of sling color and materials was a little limited, but workable. I know people who have had their cam slings replaced there, and heard good things.